


You Got a Heart So Big

by livvywritesgay (livvywrites)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Cats, Fluff, M/M, No Smut, Strangers to Lovers, harry's a little sad, it goes quite quickly, what else is new i've written it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 13:08:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17325581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livvywrites/pseuds/livvywritesgay
Summary: The thing is, Louis is not a cat person, never has been. He grew up with sisters and dogs. Also, the cat doesn’t even like him. Hates him, some might say.Basically: Louis' ex leaves him with a pregnant cat, and Harry helps birth the kittens.A tweaked “Listen, I really don’t like you, but you have kittens, so I’m going to be over a lot.” au





	You Got a Heart So Big

**Author's Note:**

> Okay. This may not be long, but it's taken me ages to write. I thought December and Christmas would bring inspiration as I've been super inspired previous years, but alas. Work's been stressing me out, and when I haven't worked, I've just wanted to spend time with my friends and family. 
> 
> Anyway, it's finally finished and I think it's cute, so. Please don't be mean if you don't like it.
> 
> My prompt was "'Listen, I really don’t like you, but you have kittens, so I’m going to be over a lot.'", but I tweaked it a bit. So thank you to whoever prompted this, because the idea came to me as soon as I read it. This fic is also inspired by my uncle's wife cat when they first started dating, so shout out to my aunt and uncle too! 
> 
> Title is from The Lumineers _Walls_
> 
> Also, a big thank you to [Lauren](http://fullonlarrie.tumblr.com/) for creating this challenge. All the prompts were great and hilarious, and I really enjoyed writing this fic.
> 
> The biggest thank you to my cheerleader and unofficial beta [M](https://hadtobelou.tumblr.com//)! You've really made writing this an absolute joy, and I hope you're willing to cheer me on with future fics as well, because I don't think I can write without your kind words anymore lol.

 

So, when Louis agreed to let Max and Soot the cat move in, he didn’t actually agree to take care of the cat when Max left. The thing is, Louis is not a cat person, never has been. He grew up with sisters and dogs. Also, the cat doesn’t even like him. Hates him, some might say. It started back when Louis and Max were only dating, and Louis would stay over at his flat some nights. As soon as Louis kicked off his shoes, Soot would run over, claws first. She’d dig her sharp nails into his shin and try to gnaw off his foot. Needless to say, the two didn’t get off to a good start.  
  
She’s also black, which makes Louis even more suspicious of her.  
  
Max moves out without Soot on a Thursday. It’s raining too, which is fitting. Louis’ not sad per se - he and Max are better off as friends anyway - but it’s still a sad situation. Max wasn’t only his boyfriend, he was one of Louis’ best friends, his first friend in the city actually, not counting his childhood friends.  
  
 “Thanks,” Max says when Louis drops the last box by the car. “I’ll be back tomorrow for Soot.” Louis nods and wraps his arms around him. It’s cold now, below freezing in the wind.   
  
 “All right, I’m off then,” Max says. He closes the boot and leans forward to kiss Louis’ cheek. “Take care, Lou.”  
  
 “Yeah, you too.”  
  
Soot’s sitting right inside the door when Louis comes back up to his flat. Her tail is swishing back and forth on the floor, and she’s staring up at Louis unblinking.   
  
 “What’s the matter with you?” When she doesn’t give him an answer, he slowly and very carefully walks around her. He’s made the mistake of hurrying past her before, and it only ended with bloody ankles.   
  
To Louis’ surprise, Soot follows him around all day. She’s not even hissing at him, only walking around quietly with an air of restlessness. Maybe she’s missing Max, Louis thinks, but he’s been away before, and she’s never been bothered then. Perhaps it’s the sixth sense of animals - she knows something’s wrong. She’s never close enough to be touching, though, and Louis’ kind of thankful for that. Even in her odd clinging mood, he doesn’t trust her. Not when she’s been so adamant to hate him since the day they met.  
  
Louis doesn’t start missing Max until dinnertime. Louis’ never been the best cook, that was always Max’s job. It’s not that he doesn’t know how to cook, he just doesn’t like it. He opens the refrigerator and stares into it. There’s nothing in it except for a few beers, some cheese and eggs. He closes the door, only to open it again a few seconds later, as if dinner would’ve magically appeared. Sighing, he closes the fridge, and rubs his eyes as he walks out of the small kitchen to the front door. He grabs his coat from the empty shelf, and steps into his shoes. The hallway is tiny, only fits one person at a time, and it was always cluttered with things - coats, hats, shoes, and a stupid red leash for Soot whenever Max decided to bring her outside (except, of course, for a couple of months ago when she ran out of the door when the pizza guy came over and was gone for the whole day). Now there’s only Louis’ stuff there. And the stupid red leash. It makes Louis a little sad to be honest. He walks out the door before he does something stupid, like cry. He doesn’t even miss Max that much.  
  
There’s a boy living on the same floor as Louis. Louis doesn’t know anything about him - he never speaks - except that his name is H. Styles because it says so on his post box. They haven’t talked, he barely even replies to Louis’ hellos. Normally, Louis wouldn’t think twice about someone like his neighbour. But this boy, this man, is something else. He’s very pretty, for starters. His face is full of expression, even if his mouth isn’t. Sometimes he’s so deep in thought his eyebrows all but meet in the middle. His mouth is set in a deep frown, and even though he shouldn’t, Louis can’t help but think he’s pretty even then. Sometimes, the boy’s smiling, dimple on display, but as soon as their eyes meet, the smile disappears as if he doesn’t want to be caught being happy. Most of the time though, he just seems relaxed. Even then, his eyebrows are a little furrowed, and the ends of his mouth turn downwards, but he still looks beautiful. He’s kind of a poem, Louis thinks, pretty even in sadness.

***

Louis’ drunk. Like, actually pissed. He only went out for a couple of pints at the pub with Liam and Niall, but they met some friends who were going out, and suddenly it’s two in the morning and Louis’ stumbling home with a pretty boy. They’re both a lot drunk, and keep bumping into the walls as they walk up the stairs. Well, walking is an exaggeration. When they finally reach the landing, the boy (Sam, Louis thinks, his name’s Sam), grabs Louis by the waist and starts kissing him. He’s not a bad kisser, but it’s a bad decision, because he gets way into it and pushes Louis up against a door. A door, that’s not Louis’ if the way it suddenly opens gives it away. Louis makes a noise of surprise, and pushes Sam off him, turning around to see his pretty neighbour standing there. Definitely not Louis’ door then.  
  
 “Sorry, mate,” he says, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Wrong door.” The boy bites his lower lip, brows furrowed in that cute way Louis likes. He looks at Louis for a couple more seconds before looking down at the floor and shutting the door. Sam tries to pull him in again, starts kissing down his neck, but Louis can’t stop thinking about the boy. He fakes being nauseous, and closes the door in Sam’s face. Soot’s sitting in the kitchen doorway as always, yellow eyes gleaming in the dark. She meows loudly.  
  
 “Yes, hello,” Louis says, and she hisses in response. Even though it’s late, he fishes out his phone from the back pocket of his jeans and texts Max to pick up his bloody cat yet again. The whole conversation is filled with blue bubbles from Louis. The last time Max texted him back is from before he moved out. Louis groans, and drops his hand to his side.  
  
He goes to brush his teeth and make himself ready for bed, but can’t get his neighbour’s face out of his head. He never paid much attention to him when Max lived here. Sure, he was busy being _in love_ , but he reckons if he thinks about the boy as much as he’s done lately, it’s odd that he never really noticed him before. Soot meows again, this time sitting between the bathroom and bedroom. Louis raises his eyebrows in disbelief. For someone who hates him as much as she does, she sure likes being close nowadays. She even jumps into bed with him, keeping as far away from him as possible. Louis follows her movement like a hawk, chuckling as she struggles coming up properly.  
  
 “Maybe we should lay off the fancy dinners for a while, huh?” He says, but she only glares at him in response. Louis drifts off watching Soot knead the blanket into a little nest.

***

He bumps into his neighbour coming home from work on Monday. It’s raining, which is typical, but it’s Christmas soon, and it would be nicer if it wasn’t. He shrugs off some rain water from his jacket, and walks over to his postbox. He shuffles to the left when he notices the boy standing by the postbox next to his. Louis glances over at him. He’s all bundled up in a large teddy coat and a newsboy cap. It’s a vast difference from Louis’ trainers and joggers, and a bit of an odd choice of jacket for this kind of weather. Louis can’t tell if the boy’s noticed him or not, but he decides to speak up anyway.  
  
 “Hey, mate,” The boy doesn’t turn, but Louis can tell he’s watching him from the corner of his eyes. “Sorry about the other night.” The boy shrugs.  
  
 “Don’t worry about it.” Louis opens his mouth to say something else, apologise again, but his neighbour turns to walk up the stairs, and just as Louis catches up to him to say something else, he closes his front door behind him. Huh. He seems like a real nice lad. Louis considers knocking to try and get to know him a little, but decides against it. As curious as the boy makes him, he figures he can’t just knock on a stranger’s door without a clear reason. Instead, he unlocks the door to his own flat, coming face to face with a very distressed Soot. She’s very loud, louder than usual, and is pacing the hallway, which is weird, because she’s taken to hiding in Louis’ wardrobe lately. Louis hates it, and has texted Max at least once a day for weeks to come pick up his cat, but he must’ve changed his number, or blocked Louis’, because he never replies. Louis eyes Soot weirdly.  
  
 “What’s your problem? You hungry?” With that, he walks into the little kitchen, but stops when he notices her full bowl. Frowning, he walks back to the hallway, only to find it empty. It’s awfully quiet too, which is even more suspicious.   
  
 “I swear to god, if you’re in my fucking wardrobe again, I’ll--” He stops dead in his tracks. There, in his bottom drawer, is that fucking cat licking her lady parts. And suddenly it all makes sense.  
  
 “Oh fuck,” he sighs. He searches his pockets for his phone, quickly googling _how to tell if your cat’s in labour_. And wow, Soot’s actually doing the works, isn’t she? Bigger boobs, she’s nested the hell out of Louis’ bed recently, she’s been behaving oddly, hasn’t been eating, and she’s paced and licked and howled all over the place. Louis feels hot all of a sudden. Is this what labour is like? Is he gonna be a dad? He blinks. He doesn’t know anything about labour. So he does the only rational thing he can think of.  
  
 “Stay there,” he says to Soot. “I’ll be right back with some help.” And of course, she only glares at him in response before going back to knead at his t-shirts.  
  
He stands in front of the door, taking a deep breath. This wasn’t what he had in mind when he wanted to befriend his neighbour. He knocks quickly, careful of the giant Christmas wreath hanging there. It only takes a couple of seconds before Pretty Boy opens the door.  
  
 “Erm, hi”, Louis says. The boy blinks, looking surprised. “I know we don’t know each other,” he continues before the boy has a chance to say anything. “But I’m Louis--”  
  
 “I know,” he interrupts quietly, which is weird because Louis doesn’t think they’ve actually said anything of value to each other before. “I’m Harry.”  
  
 “I’m sorry to bother you,” Louis says, “but my ex’s cat is in my flat, and I think she’s probably in labour. You don’t happen to know anything about cat births, do you?” The boy shrugs.   
  
 “I helped my mum when her cat had kittens.” Louis lets out a laugh of relief.  
  
 “Sick! You think you could help me? I can buy you pizza.” The boy smiles.  
  
 “Okay,” he says.  
  
 “Awesome, thank you so much!” He waits for Harry to lock the door.  
  
 “I used to talk to your boyfriend a lot. Before he moved out, I mean,” he blurts out. Louis raises his eyebrows in surprise, and the boy quickly adds  
  
 “Not in a weird way! We just seemed to have a similar schedule, that’s all. I promise I’m not a freak who stalks people or tries to steal other people’s boyfriends. It was just chit chat, promise.” Louis smiles.  
  
 “Don’t worry about it, I’m just surprised. He never mentioned having a friend in the building.” He lets the boy walk in before him, and points in the direction of the bedroom.   
  
 “She’s in my shirt drawer. Always hated me that cat, I think this is the ultimate revenge for being stuck with me after Max buggered off.” Harry nods, but doesn’t walk to Louis’ bedroom. Instead, he waits for Louis to take the lead, and Louis can’t figure out if it’s because he’s too polite to barge in, or what.   
  
 “Do you have a cat carrier?” Harry asks in the bedroom. “I don’t think we’ll need it, cats are pretty good at giving birth, but just in case something goes wrong.” Louis frowns. He hasn’t seen the carrier since Max moved in. Harry must see his hesitation because he asks for towels instead. He fusses around her, making sure her litter box is close by (which, ew, Louis sleeps in here), and that she has access to food and water.  
  
 “Now what?” Louis asks when Harry sits down on the bed next to him. Harry sighs, and looks at Louis.  
  
 “We wait. Us staying here helps her calm down.”  
  
 “Do we need to stay the whole time?” Louis asks, just to be difficult. “What if we have to piss?” Harry lets out a laugh, covering his mouth with the back of his hand.  
  
 “I think she’ll forgive us if we leave for that.”

***

It takes four hours before all the kittens are born, and while they’re all nursing from Soot, Louis has learned more from Harry than he thought possible. Before properly meeting Harry, he thought he was a shy and closed off person, but it turns out he’s just heartbroken.  
  
 “I’ve never had a boyfriend,” Harry confesses as they wait for the third kitten to be born. “And all my friends have either just gotten engaged, or moved in with their partner, or just started dating, and I’m just here. By myself. And I’m happy for them, of course I am! I’m just lonely. No one makes time for me anymore. Apparently, it’s much more fun being with your partner.” Louis doesn’t know what to say. He knows he’s one of them, knows he tends to put all his energy into his boyfriends. He’s never been on the other end, so he’s never quite understood what it’s like. Of course, he knows he behaves like an arsehole sometimes (as Niall’s mentioned only every single time they’ve hung out), but he’s just been so in love he can’t see straight. Harry’s not looking at him, probably embarrassed at his confession.  
  
 “Is that why you’re sad?” Louis asks boldly. Harry hesitates for a moment before nodding. His fingers are playing with the spare towels in his lap, and he’s watching Soot and her kittens intently. A little too intently, Louis thinks.  
  
 “You know,” Louis says after a few minutes of silence. “For what it’s worth, I think dating someone is overrated. Just imagine what you can do on your own! You don’t have to listen to anyone,” he says, holding up his thumb to count it off. “If you wanna go meet some friends you can do so without asking. You can always choose what’s for dinner. No compromising. And,” Louis says, holding up his pinky to conclude his list. “Imagine how low your toilet paper cost is compared to couples’. You don’t need anyone, Harry” Harry gives him a small smile.  
  
 “Yeah, I guess,” he says. “Doesn’t mean I don’t want anyone though.” And Louis doesn’t know how to respond, and he doesn’t have time to come up with something good either, because suddenly there’s a new kitten coming into the world.

***

Louis opens the door after almost a minute of very insistent knocking.  
  
 “Yes, Harry?” he says when he opens the door, feigning annoyance. As soon as he looks up at him, Harry’s face falls.  
  
 “I’m sorry,” he says. “I’ll leave if you’re busy, I just thought you’d like some dinner?” Louis looks down. Sure enough, Harry is holding a pot of what smells like tomato soup. He smiles.  
  
 “Did you forget that you’re only one person again, Harry?” Harry looks down and blushes, but he smiles, just a little.  
  
 “Just thought you might want to try some. I’ve never made this recipe before. It’s got ricotta in it.” Louis nods, impressed.  
  
 “All right then. I could go for some ricotta and tomato soup.”  
  
 “And roasted peppers,” Harry adds quickly.  
  
 “And roasted peppers,” Louis repeats, leaning with his back against the door so Harry can come in.  
  
As soon as Harry’s dumped the pot in the kitchen, he heads for Louis’ bedroom. He opens the closet door that’s standing ajar and sits down on the floor. Louis can’t see him, too busy reheating the soup on the stove, but he can hear him whispering to Soot and her kittens. It’s... sweet. Endearing. Turning the stove off, Louis sneaks into his bedroom and sits down on the bed. Harry’s sitting with the four kittens in his lap now, holding one of them up close to his face, stroking it gently on the head, murmuring in its ear. Louis thinks he’s in love.   
  
 “I think he likes you,” Louis says after a while. The other kittens have started playing with each other, but the multi-coloured one is still in Harry’s hands, and doesn’t show any signs of wanting to come down. In fact, it’s rubbing its head against Harry’s neck, and it’s precious really.  
  
 “Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s a she,” Harry says. “Most tortoiseshells are. Not that it matters,” he adds quickly, always wanting to be PC, this boy.  
  
 “Huh,” Louis says, sliding down on the floor next to Harry. Their thighs are almost touching, and Louis sees Harry’s eyes zoom in on the fact. He moves a little closer. “Why is that?” Harry blushes, probably because they’re touching now. He does that a lot, especially when they’re touching. He looks up at Louis’ face though, which is unusual when they’re this close. He’s biting his lip, eyes roaming all over Louis’ face, flicking between his eyes and lips. Louis really wants to kiss him, but he’s not sure how Harry will react. Sure, from what Louis can tell, Harry fancies him, but he also remembers Harry telling him he’s never had a boyfriend before, how limited his romantic experience is. Harry swallows.  
  
 “I don’t know.” And, that’s right. Louis asked him a question. Louis reaches forward to pet the kitten, _Harry’s_ kitten, he thinks. Harry’s staring at him with those big green eyes, and Louis can’t help himself. He reaches up over the kitten’s head and puts his hand on Harry’s cheek, stroking his thumb across his cheekbone.  
  
 “I’d really like to kiss you, I think,” he whispers because he can’t bear speaking any louder. Harry swallows again, gulps actually. He nods.  
  
 “Okay,” he whispers back, and if Louis wasn’t sitting so close, he probably wouldn’t have heard him. But he does, so he grins, leaning over the kittens in Harry’s lap, pressing his lips against his. It’s soft, chaste, Louis catching Harry’s plump bottom lip between his own. He leans back a little, and lets out a breath of laughter, because Harry’s chasing after him, and kisses him again, this time harder, and wetter. Harry must’ve dropped the tortoiseshell kitten in his lap, because when they kiss again, Harry’s hands are at the back of Louis’ neck, in his hair, all over his upper body. They kiss until they’re out of breath, and when they move apart, Harry’s eyes are wider than before and his lips are redder. He wipes some spit from the bottom lip, and grins down at his lap.  
  
 “That was nice,” he says, and starts giggling. Louis can’t help it, he laughs too, only because this boy is too precious for words. “Can we do it again?” And who’s Louis to turn him down?  
  
They don’t stop kissing for hours. Louis can tell Harry’s getting worked up, he’s panting and frantically kissing him. He’s sitting in Louis’ lap now, kittens forgotten. He’s hard, and Louis is too, but he doesn’t wanna push Harry, so he tries to ignore it and focuses on kissing him. It’s nice, kissing Harry. More than nice, but Louis’ brain is too preoccupied to come up with a better word. It’s a vast difference from thinking Harry hated him, now that he’s sitting here - hands in Louis’ hair, and slowly rocking backwards and forwards to create some friction.  
  
 “Harry,” Louis mumbles between kisses. Harry hums in response, but doesn’t make a move to stop.  
  
 “Babe,” Louis tries again, “maybe we should stop.” Harry pulls back, looking surprised and a little embarrassed.  
  
 “Oh,” he says, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. His lips are red and swollen, and his hair is a little disheveled from Louis running his hands through it. “I’m sorry.”  
  
 “No!” Louis hurries to say, “don’t apologise. I was just thinking maybe we shouldn’t go too fast. I don’t mean stop all together.” Harry still appears embarrassed, and starts searching around for his jumper that was apparently thrown off in the heat of the moment. He looks like he’s ready to leave, and Louis doesn’t want that. He wants Harry to stay. He grabs Harry’s arm before he can move to stand.  
  
 “Harry, babe, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant we don’t have to do everything at once. Let’s have some dinner and put on a film, yeah? I really wanna try your special soup,” he says, grinning, and pecks Harry’s blushing cheek for good measure. Standing up, he reaches out for Harry’s hand, and tilts his head.  
  
 “Come on. I’ll even let you choose the film. And I promise not to whine when you choose _The Lucky One_ again.” Harry pouts, and takes Louis’ hand to help himself up.  
  
 “I don’t watch it that often!” Louis raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t comment. “I don’t!” He hears Harry whine as he walks into the kitchen to reheat the soup again. 

***

Coming home from work usually meant kicking off his shoes, starting the kettle, and putting the telly on. Some days he quickly changed to go to the gym, others he just ordered take out and watched footie. For the past two or three months, that has changed. Sure, he still puts on the kettle first thing, but there’s someone else in his house now. And he’s not talking about the cat. Harry has taken to coming over whenever he’s finished with his school work (although more often than not, Louis finds him on the floor in front of his wardrobe, both notebook and at least one kitten in his lap). When Louis comes home late, it’s usually to Harry standing in the kitchen making dinner for the two of them, or with some pizza in the living room in front of _The Lucky One_ or some other god forsaken rom com.  
  
It’s Friday, a day they’ve come to call Pizza Party Friday Night, and Louis’ staggering home after a ten-hour work day. His eyes are sore from staring at his computer all day, and his back aches from being hunched over. Unlocking the front door, he’s not surprised to hear Harry sniffle in front of the telly. He unzips his jacket, standing behind the sofa. Harry’s sitting on the floor as usual, one hand petting Soot, the other wiping at his eyes. Noah is in the middle of restoring that old house for Allie on screen, and Louis’ suddenly not so surprised about Harry’s tears anymore.  
  
 “Gorgeous”, he chuckles, “you all right?” Harry turns to look at him over his shoulder, and smiles through his tears.  
  
 “Shut up,” he says. “I ordered some pizza already. Your favourite.” Louis throws his jacket in the direction of the front door, and rounds the sofa to sit down behind Harry. Harry leans his head back onto Louis’ thighs.  
  
 “Thanks babe,” Louis says, bending over to press a kiss into Harry’s sweet smelling curls. He grabs a slice of pepperoni on the way back to making himself comfortable on the sofa, and has just taken a bite when someone knocks on the door. Louis sighs and rolls his eyes. Typical.  
  
 “Do you want me to get it?” Harry asks, always so considerate.  
  
 “No,” Louis snorts. “You look like a mess, they’ll think something’s wrong.” Harry swats at his foot as Louis steps over his long legs.  
  
 “Don’t eat my pizza!” Louis shouts from the hall.  
  
 “I don’t want your yucky pepperoni anyway!” Harry shouts back. Louis laughs, but it dies down when he opens the door. Because--  
  
It’s Max on the other side.  
  
 “Hi,” Louis says, taken aback. He looks different from the last time Louis saw him. He’s grown his beard out and his hair is a little shorter. Louis can hear Harry playing with the kittens in the other room, so he doesn’t let Max in. Louis hasn’t heard a word from him since he moved out, and that was over two months ago. “What the fuck are you doing here?”  
  
Max’s eyes widen, just a little, probably not expecting Louis to say that. Good. If he thinks he can just show up here unannounced and expect everything to be civil, he’s got another thing coming.  
  
 “I’m here to pick up Soot.” On cue, Soot creeps up behind Louis’ legs. She strokes herself against them, something she’s taken to doing after she had her kittens. It’s probably only because Harry loves to sit close and cuddle with Louis, and Soot adores Harry, so naturally, she does what he does. She’s basically a child copying her older sibling. Both Louis and Max look down at her, and when she notices Max, she does the thing she always used to do to Louis when he came home. She lays her ears back and hisses at Max, showing off all her teeth. And Louis can’t help it, he bursts out laughing.  
  
 “Well,” he chuckles, and cocks his head to the side. “Looks like she’s put off the idea of going anywhere with you.” He clears his throat, smirking. “Perhaps that’s what happens when you dump someone off at your boyfriend’s for over two months without so much as an explanation.” Max flinches away from Soot’s antics, looking up at Louis in complete disbelief.  
  
 “Are you actually saying you like her now?” he asks. “You couldn’t stand her for years, and now you actually want her to stay?” Louis chuckles again.  
  
 “I guess that happens when you let someone give birth in your t-shirt drawer. I don’t think she’ll come with you today, mate. She’s staying right here with me, and her new best friend.” This time, Max laughs.  
  
 “Her new best friend? You? She’s been wanting to claw your eyes out since the moment you met.” He wasn’t actually talking about himself, but Max doesn’t need to know that. And, yes, Louis realises they’re talking about her as if she was a real person, but she’s grown on him. Sue him. He can’t possibly let Max take her away. It would break his heart. And Harry’s. He can’t bear to break Harry’s heart.  
  
 “Whatever. You’re not taking her. I texted you everyday for two weeks to come pick her up, but you never replied. You’ve lost your rights now.” Max scoffs, but Louis doesn’t budge, only raises his eyebrows.  
  
 “Good comeback. Now, would you please leave, I have company and it’d be awfully rude to stand here much longer when we don’t have anything more to say.”  
  
 “You can’t just take my cat!” Max exclaims.  
  
 “Oh, so she is your cat now?” Louis asks. “Well, mate, if you would’ve picked her up when I told you to, you might find yourself with a cat still, but like I said, I gave you several chances and you didn’t take them. So goodbye, and please never come back. Have a nice life, Max.” And with that, he closes the door in Max’s face, mouth wide open. Soot meows, and Louis gives her a nod.  
  
 “That’s right Soot, you’re staying right here with me and Harry, aren’t you? You, the kittens, me, and Harry.” He almost leans down to pet her as she strokes her body against his legs again, but decides against it. They may tolerate each other now, but he would really like to keep his hands.  
  
Harry’s sitting in the same spot Louis left him, _The Notebook_ on pause. Poppy, the tortoiseshell kitten, is lying in Harry’s lap, her favourite spot. The others are play fighting with the feather toy Harry bought the other day. He looks happy. Ever since Louis allowed Harry to keep all four kittens, he’s been smiling. It’s a bit crowded with five cats in the flat, and Harry stays over most nights, but it’s kind of cosy, Louis thinks. He likes the company.  
  
 “Hey gorgeous,” he says, sitting down next to them. Both Harry and Poppy look up at him, but Poppy seems more interested in trying to take a bite out of Harry’s hair. Harry’s answering smile is blinding, and he looks beautiful.  
  
 “So she’s _your_ cat now” Harry says, teasing, and Louis should’ve known he was eavesdropping. Louis shrugs, leaning closer to Harry, resting his head on his shoulder.  
  
 “Our cat, I guess.” He feels Harry kissing his hair, and tilts his head up to catch Harry’s lips between his own.  
  
The thing is, Louis is not a cat person, never has been. He grew up with sisters and dogs. Also, the cat doesn’t even like him. But she likes Harry, and he does too. Loves him, even. So, maybe a few scratches and bite marks are worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [tumblr!](https://livvywritesgay.tumblr.com/)
> 
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